Deidara minus Sasori!
by Wolflite
Summary: this is after the figt between naruto and the atkatsuki for gaara's body. sasori is dead, and his best friend might as well be dead with grief. but can tobi help the blonde atkatsuki cope? this isn't a one-shot, and there won't be any yoai. too bad. rated t.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto characters are not mine. However, this story line is. So you can review it, but not steal it. Thanx.

On a happier note, I have discovered that cats, when given something sour, are a huge source of entertainment. 3  
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"Sasori, tell me again why we are doing this mission."

"Because, brat, this is the mission we were given by Pain himself. This jinjurikai is younger than you, and even were that not enough, _that _will be enough to drive him so far inside himself he will be an easy capture. After all, they were friends, right?"

Deidara grins, saying, "Jinjurikai are too easily beaten. They live by their emotions."

Sasori laughs at that, replying, "What about you, brat? You are ruled by your emotions."

The younger Atkatsuki shinobi laughed as well. "Hai, but I've got you to keep me in line!" he sits on the giant clay bird he'd been riding on, looking forward to the mission ahead.

However, things didn't go as planned. For one, the yellow haired jinjurikai, Naruto, hadn't showed up alone. He'd brought a pink haired female, an old crone, the legendary silver haired ninja, Kakashi, and two ninja with black bowl cut hair and green jumpsuits. The only differences between the last two were that one was taller than the other, and that the shorter one had bushy eye brows. The two Atkatsuki were forced to split up, with the four male shinobi following Deidara. They fought him, forcing him back and wearing him down.

Though Deidara was strong, he wasn't strong enough to take on a grief stricken jinjurikai and Kakashi. That, and the fact that in his tired state, Deidara was about to beat a hasty "bomb and run" when a black haired shinobi, dressed in Atkatsuki garb, appeared.

"I-Itachi…"

"Go, Deidara… I will handle these… ninja." Deidara nodded, sprinting away, unable to even create a bird to fly away on. He heard Naruto scream something at him faintly, but was too far away to turn and reply. He stopped by a waterfall, sitting and taking a rest. After about an hour, just as he was getting ready to go, he heard something rushing towards him… and it was closing fast.

"Damned Atkatsuki! Where is Gaara?!" the sound of Naruto's rage sounded closer by the second.

Deidara had barely had time to prepare a bomb before Naruto slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. The bomb exploded, sending Naruto flying and giving Deidara time to stand. However, the jinjurikai had used almost preternatural reflexes to throw up a doppelganger at the last minute to take the brunt of the explosion. It stood, glaring at him, and Deidara noticed a few changes that scared him. One, Naruto had a red chakra surrounding it, with what looked like two tails in the air behind it. Two, the three whisker-like marks on its face had grown more ragged, instead of straight as they had been upon meeting each other. And three… the eyes, which had been an unusual bright blue had turned red and slit pupilled. It was the eyes that scared him, the way they seemed to burn through his skin, to his soul.

Deidara made another bomb and dropped it onto the ground, controlling the spider with his chakra, walking it towards Naruto. But as the bomb reached it, the jinjurikai crushed it, and leeched the chakra out. Then, it made the signs for a shadow clone, but more than expected had shown up. Deidara had expected three, not a hundred, if not more. As Deidara was rushed by the jinjurikai's shadow clones he packed as much clay into the mouths on his palms' mouths as possible, and makes realistic, if miniature models of himself. Once they were done, he through them away and made them bigger, life sized. As he watched, a vast majority of the clones attacked his clay doppelgangers, masking them from view. When he felt enough were around them, he set the Deidara bombs off at once, making a great explosion. The clearing had been incased in a thick smoky fog, not only from the explosion, but from the chakra giving the shadow clones form.

Deidara was about to head back to Sasori, when a bright blue light brought him to a halt. He spun, right as the jinjurikai launched itself at him, screaming, and slammed something into Deidara's gut, then… all went dark.

This is only chapter one. For those of you who watched Naruto shippuden, or have read the manga for Naruto, and think this goes nothing like the fight between Naruto and Deidara, you're right. This was loosely based on it in the beginning, but I wanted to add my own thoughts into this.

If you liked this, review it. If not, still, review it.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: as we all know, I don't own Naruto Shipuden, Naruto, or any of the characters featured in the manga. Suck, but it is true.

This is the second chapter. If you like it, that's great. If it's better than the first chapter, tell me. If it's not, still, tell me. If you haven't read the first chapter, well, read the damn thing in order.  
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When Deidara woke up, the first thing he noticed was the horrible pain in his gut. It felt like he'd been hit by a tree at the speed of Sasori's puppet's tail. Suddenly he sits up, eyes wide, as the night sky looms over him. _Crap, _he thought. _Sasori's gonna kill me. Especially if he realizes the jinjurikai got away… oh no! If Pain finds out, he'll… _Deidara shudders, unable to finish the thought. He slowly, painfully, gets to his feet. _I better get going… I'm late enough as it is… _

Deidara limps quickly from the place of his defeat, wincing each time he took a step. No matter how soft he put his foot down, it felt like there was a red hot, very dull kunai being shoved slowly through his lower gut. By the time dawn came, it had taken him five hours to reach a spot twenty minutes from the clearing at his top speed, and he was exhausted, not only physically, but mentally as well.

When he stopped for a rest, he finally acknowledged the thought that had been bothering him all night. If he'd been beaten that badly by one opponent, what had happened to Sasori? _No, _he told himself. _Sasori wouldn't have lost. He's probably waiting for me right now. So, _he stood, feeling reenergized, _I gotta keep going._

Moving as fast as his internally injured stomach would allow, Deidara finally worked his way up to a kind of limping run. Though each step was still painful, he had finally started to overlook the pain, which allowed him to sprint a few miles, until the pain started to get unbearable again, at which time he would slow down. But once the pain started to recede, he would start sprinting again. When he'd finally reached the cave where he and Sasori had parted, he expected to see his friend seething as he waited for Deidara. However, Sasori was nowhere in sight.

Sighing, Deidara settled down to wait for his friend to come back, hoping that it wouldn't be too long before they could return to the Atkatsuki stronghold and put this failed mission behind them. But as night started to fall, Deidara started to feel anxious, then angry. _The hell is taking that puppet so long? Even if he had given up on finding me, he should still have been back by now… damn… my intestines really hurt…_

Deidara stood and walked back into the cave, still angry at the lateness of his friend. However, all his anger turned into astonishment, then pain as his eyes met a horrible scene. Scattered all over the cave were a bunch of puppets, all broken beyond repair. And in the center was the sealed container that had once held his friends heart, shredded, lying in a small puddle.

"No… no, no, NO! This… this can't be! There's no way he died! This… dammit, NO! Sasori!" the young Atkatsuki fell to his knees, shaking with rage and grief. "Please… why'd you go and die like that?" he slammed his fists into the ground, creating two small craters, tears streaming down his face. "You… you're my best friend! You were the closest thing I had to a brother! And now… now you're gone…"

He kept punching the ground, over and over, until his anger was finally spent. As his rage left him, he felt empty and cold, a shell of himself. Slowly he stood, and turns his back on the broken parts. As he walks out of the mouth of the cave, he molds the last of his clay into a small scale model of Sasori as he had last seen him and placed it onto the ground. There it grew until it was the same size as Sasori had been and moved into the cave. Deidara dashed away, no longer feeling his injury. After a mile or so had gone by, he detonated the bomb, obliterating any evidence that Sasori had ever been there.

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Three days had passed since Deidara left the spot of his defeat and Sasori's death. Three days since he received the biggest loss of his life since his parents. As he reached the Atkatsuki stronghold, pain and hunger finally caused him to collapse.

When Deidara finally woke up, he was lying in a dark room. His first thought was that he'd overslept, but when he sat upright, he nearly screamed as his stomach spasmed in pain.

"Hey. Careful."

Yes. I am. You'll just have to wait until my writer's block is gone to find out who's there. Now, c'mon, don't be shy, review. I know there are aspiring critics out there. Now's your chance to shine.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I do not. Own the series, I mean. Okay, wth? No offence, but why exactly do we have to put disclaimers up? I mean, it's pretty obvious we don't own the series, aye? Nah, I'm just kidding. On to the next chapter.

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry it took so long. Thanks for bearing with me.  
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Deidara jumped, visibly shocked that there was someone there.

"What do you want? To ridicule me for my failure? Go away." The young Atkatsuki rolled over, dismissing his unwanted visitor.

He didn't hear anything, but the overwhelming presence in the room vanished, leaving Deidara alone to his thoughts. Not that there was much to think about. After all, he repressed his memories of Sasori to avoid the pain. So he started thinking about his battle with the jinjurikai, and began plotting his revenge.

A few hours passed, and Itachi walked in. "Deidara, it's time to start your mission." He tossed a scroll on the bed, and walked out. Deidara grabbed the scroll and unrolled it, looking through it.

_Your mission is to scout the village of snow. There have been rumors that the  
three tailed beast is hidden there. You have three days to scout the village  
and three kilometers of the land surrounding it. Report to Itachi before you  
leave, as he will be your partner while Kisame is on a mission of his own._

_Report to Pein before you leave._

Deidara crumpled the scroll and got out of bed, pulling on his robe. As he went into the bathroom, he caught sight of himself in the mirror and winced, seeing that he looked like hell. He quickly darted through the shower, then got redressed and pulled his hair into its trademark pony tail, fixing his bangs so they once again cover his bionic left eye. _Now, _he thought, _let's go see what Pein wants._

Deidara moved quickly through the Atkatsuki headquarters, wondering, and not for the first time, why it was kept so it alternated at set intervals from light to dark and back again. _I'll just ask Sa… oh… yeah… dammit, Deidara, he's dead. Never forget that he's dead. _Deidara stopped and punched a wall, wincing as he feels the skin tore, letting blood drip down his fingers. _Never. _

As he enters the big room, the room in which Pein resided, and knelt on the platform that was designated to himself. "Lord Pein, you summoned me?"

"Yes."

After a pause, Deidara spoke up once again. "May I ask why?"

"There is no room for weakness in this organization. Should you show any hesitation, doubts, or question any orders you are given, then you will be... cast out of this organization. You will not be allowed to return."

Deidara ducks his head. "Yes, lord Pein. I understand." He spoke, keeping the bitterness out of his voice.

"You are dismissed. Carry out your mission with Itachi."

"Yes lord." Deidara stands and leaves the room, barely making it out before his face went red with rage that had been building up during his talk with Pein. The bastard had basically said Deidara would be executed if he made a mistake. As every Atkatsuki member knew, there was no leaving the organization. Not alive anyway.

_What is that man playing at, _he wondered. _Especially pairing me with Itachi! There's no way I'm going to escape that one! This mission might well be my last, because Itachi would never give me a good report! _Deidara shivered, then growled softly, straightening up. _The hell am I saying? This is one mission I refuse to fail. The jinjurikai… anyone harboring a jinjurikai… they will die. All of them! _He laughs maniacally.

When Deidara finally met up with Itachi, neither spoke. Itachi ran on the ground, while Deidara flew on his clay bird. At nightfall, Itachi sat in a tree while Deidara started pitching camp. However, as Deidara put two sleeping bags into the tent, Itachi broke the tense silence.

"Don't bother."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm not sleeping," Itachi replied.

"Fine…" Deidara muttered, throwing the sleeping out of the tent, then crawling into his own, and falling into a dreamless sleep.

"Boy…"

"Sa… Sasori… is that you?"

"Deidara, get up! There is a battle on our hands! Looks like the nearest village saw your bird landing and sent us a welcome!"

Deidara jerked awake and scrambled out of his sleeping bag, looking out of his tent to find it surrounded by what looked like twenty ninja, all ready to battle, with Itachi nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it!"

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Sorry, dear readers. I feel your pain.

Yeah. Right. D I did this cliffhanger on purpose. I bet you're all worried about Deidara.  
so, review, please? And I don't mind suggestions. If I like it, I might incorporate into my story.  
again, I apologize for the wait. Until next time, aye?


	4. Chapter 4

Well… I must say, it's been awhile, hai? To be honest, I never expected to be writing a new chapter for this story. Sorry it took so long, but real life took me hostage. Holidays coming up, so… yeah.

Here's chapter four so… enjoy.

By the way, cats don't like sour stuff.

Deidara decided the best thing to do at the moment was retreat. Fast. Otherwise, considering how well known the Atkatsuki was becoming, he might very well be taken captive. Taking his clay into his left palm mouth, he created a clay clone and made it bigger, using a substitution jutsu to escape. Feeling as he was at a safe enough distance, he detonated it, grinning as the anguished screams reached him. "Good," he muttered. "That should take care of them for a while… now where the hell is Itachi?!"

"Oh, he's here as well? Where?" Deidara looked up and growled in annoyance. The damned Anbu were everywhere!

"Why would I tell you, mmm?" he replied, already molding two chakra bombs from clay. As the Anbu opened his mouth to reply, Deidara threw the birds at his enemy. The Anbu tried to move back, and though he was fast, he wasn't fast enough. The occurring explosion took off the entire front of the Anbu's body.

"Itachi, you coward!" Deidara shouted, already on the move. Suddenly, a dark shadow slammed into Deidara, knocking him off his path. "Shut up, idiot! You wanna die?!" the shadow hissed. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, leaving a stunned Deidara behind. "The hell?" he muttered. Then remembering the shadows words, he went still, listening for any threat. From his left, a bunch of crashing could be heard coming nearer. He reached into his dwindling clay supply and removed half, creating three spider mines, which he set in a line in the path of the threat coming towards him.

As he settled to wait, he heard three explosions, one after the other, and a muttered curse. "Deidara, you idiot! Where are you?"

"Itachi? That you?"

"Of course it's me! Who did you think it was?"

Deidara slips out from his hiding spot in the undergrowth, eyeing the other. "Prove it."

"No."

Deidara blinked, then nodded. "We should be on our way then. There will probably be more ANBU after us."

Without waiting for an answer, Deidara dashes into the trees, still wondering who, if not Itachi, the mysterious shadow was.

Sorry again for the delay, and also for the shortness of the chapter. I also apologize for it being utter crap, but I wrote whenever I had the chance. Thanks for the understanding, and any reviews thrown my way. I'll try and get another chapter out by Christmas.

Laterz. ^.^


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